Watch Me Entertain Myself!

Sacha Guitry once said, "You can pretend to be serious, but you can't pretend to be witty." Oh yes, I'm the great pretender.

(pilot episode: 20 January 2004)

Sunday, April 04, 2010

All Access

The McVie is not for everybody; that much is clear to me. I am also not a big fan of being mysterious; with my blog, my life is somewhat an open book, or at least an easy-to-read condensed version. Yes, there is editing—there will always be editing—but even a stranger can get a general idea of the public McVie.

Thus when I meet someone new and I want him to get an instant snapshot of who I am, I point him to the Show. And if what they see freaks them out, well, what can I do? If this Show, this presentation of who I am, is already stress-inducing for him, I wonder how he’ll react to the behind the scenes?

And yet, I think it’s fairly safe for me to say that I don’t know of anyone, neither family nor friend, who has really seen all of me in my behind the scenes; glimpses yes, and perhaps a guided tour to certain areas backstage. It is something that not everyone should see, only a privileged few. And maybe that’s the thing I need to remind myself.

Not everyone deserves a backstage pass to The McVie Show. But not everyone who gets handed a backstage pass by me will want to take a peek either.

I can't help but admire the relative "openness" of bloggers such as you, McVie, who do not utilize a blog moniker to stand safely behind. Then again, we all have our reasons for choosing to reveal or conceal ourselves.

As for knowing, do we ever really get to know anyone? Close friends and long-term lovers may reveal to us their innermost thoughts and intimate details, but I think every man keeps certain aspects of himself hidden away, consciously or not.

In the end, we're lucky if we get to know our true selves, behind the masks we wear and the roles we play.